Mother's Birthday

This is the one hundredth anniversary of my mother's birth.  She didn't make it to one hundred but she did make it to ninety-five and almost to ninety-six.  Two of her sisters lived to be within a few days of ninety-five so she was proud when she reached that milestone.  And she was proud her whole life that she shared her birth date with Abraham Lincoln, the president who freed the slaves.

My sister who is two years younger than I am lived  two hours east of Blanchard House, the assisted living home, where Mother lived most of her last two years. I lived  two hours southwest. Our other three sisters and brother lived in other states.  My sister was sick on Mother's birthday.  Tom was home in the living room in a hospital bed recuperating from a broken femur.  Ted, one of our grandchildren, stayed with him so I could be with Mother on her special day.

Blanchard House staff set up a dinner for us in the private family room-dining room.  The balloons are from them.  They also gave her a little teddy bear to add to the collection in her apartment.

Mother was excited about all the birthday cards and flowers and other gifts she received from friends, neighbors and relatives.  Many enclosed short notes and pictures of themselves with the dolls and bears and other toys she had given them from her  collection of over a thousand toys.

The next time my sister visited she brought a box she had covered with pretty paper so Mother had a special storage place for her cards and letters.  Often, when I visited after that, she brought out the box to show the cards to me.

Some of you have discovered it is easy to use the choice "anonymous" to leave a comment.  Thank you for stopping in. I am always glad to hear from my readers.  My sister and Tom found still another way to leave a comment.  Click on "About making a comment" under Labels which you will find in the column under my photo to the right.